I’m trying to decide whether I should keep my roof rack or not. I don’t do a lot of camping etc but I guess it would come in handy at some point. It’s currently off the disco
what you guys think ? Do you have a rack on your rig and do you use it ?

 

I think they look cool but do not want extra stuff on the roof for several reasons -

• Wind noise
• Wind resistance (MPG)
• Hides the cool Alpine roof lines
• Bad place for extra weight.

 

@redwhitekat I just use load bars to carry my RTT, the roof rack is nice when you are camping and everything gets wet you can toss it up there rather than inside. But if you do not see yourself using it, I would leave it off for a few trips and see if you miss it.

 

Yeah, purpose dictates necessity. If you don't feel you'd ever use it to its full capabilities...leave it off and store it until your lifestyle changes or you feel the need to sell.

l have no desire to have a rack on either of our Dll's. Now, if the defender went down the road...that opinion may change.

Plus, if you are ever going to consider a RTT...a lot of the flat style racks (frontrunner) keep the center of gravity lower and allow you to position your tent in different locations, and deploy in different directions easily. The old safari style racks look cool...but are somewhat impractical...in my opinion.

 

The only think I would consider using it for would be to mount a awning and a awning attachment to it. For any camping trips etc

 

Then I was thinking about buying these and putting a bar across to mount any awning etc but steep pricing

 

On the subject of mpg’s does anyone have any real life data as to just how much the roof rack decreases mpg?
I am planning a long road trip with my roof rack installed which I won’t really need and wonder if it’s worth the trouble to remove it beforehand.

 

Probably not worth the hassle of removing and reinstalling.

 

I get a rather significant difference between the two trucks, one with a pretty stout Wilderness rack, and the other with no rack. Significant because it's a high percentage, but perhaps not so impactful as an mpg factor. The 03 with the rack (and an 04 driveline) never seems to get above 12mpg, ever, city or highway, air or no air. The 04 with no rack can sometimes surprise me with 14+ on the highway, even with the air on.

Ok so ~2 mpg doesn't mean a whole lot, but it does actually represent almost an 18% difference, which when equated to dollars can mean something. That said, I wouldn't go through the hassle of removing it because it beats up the drip rail. I've only used the rack on the 03 two or three times and often ponder its purposefulness up there. I will ashamedly admit, it's pretty much a cosmetic enhancement only.

 

My experience with roof top storage has driven me away from it if I can avoid it. I use hitch mounts now. As a cyclist/ex-racer I have travelled many miles with bikes on the roof. On slippery cars (BMW) the mpg hit is huge and the wind noise unbearable at times. With less aero friendly trucks not as much but still a hit especially at highway speeds above 70 mph. Convert that to heavy boxy gear and its probably worse yet. Then you forget and pull into a parking garage or drive-thru for coffee and BAM! With gutter mounts and weight you can also get stress cracks over time. My 86 Izuzu Trooper had this bad from four Yakima cross bars and various gear loads. I would think a RTT could be a slam dunk contributor to gutter damage. The only roof loads I carry now go into the aero cargo boxes on the X5 for family trips. nearly silent and do not hit mpg much at all.

Cruising the 2020 Defender forum for fun I noticed some dude is putting his Yeti cooler on the roof. Why would you do that...